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E. P. HEP-PARD, J1.

, CABLE GRIP. No. 376,885. Patented Jan. 24,1888.A

d' h l NrrLED STATESV PATENT QFrrcE.

ELWooD 1?. HEPPAED, JE., 0E wooDEUEY, NEW JEEsEY.'

CABLE-GRIP.

SPECIFICATION forming ypart of Letters Patent No. 376,885,-dated January.24, l1'88'8.

Application tiled August 1,1887. Serial No.245.820. .(No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

, Be it known that I, ELwooD P. HEPPARD, J r., acitizen of the UnitedStates, and a resi dent of Woodbury, in the county of Gloucester andState of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Cable- Grips; and I do hereby declare that the following isa full,clear, and exact description of the invention, which will enable othersskilled in the art to which it apper'tains to make and use the same,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part ofthis specification, and in which Figure 1 is a side view of my improvedgrip for cable-cars. Fig. 2 is a 'similar view seen from the other side.`Fig. 3 yis a longitudinal vertical sectional view'of the grip, and,Fig. 4 is a transverse vertical sectional view.

Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in all theigures.

My invention has relation to gripsv for cablecars; and it consists inthe improved construction and combination of parts of a grip, which willallow the clamp to hold and engagethe cable while crossing anothercable, as hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

In the accompany'ingdrawings, the numeral 1 indicatesa plate secured tothe platform of the car and provided with two downwardlyprojectinglongitudinal flanges, 2, having crosspieces 3 secured in them nearthelower edges, to which cross-pieces the forwardly `and rearwardlyprojecting lips 4 of the at bar 5 of the grip are secured. This bar`slides in the. slot in the cable-trench, and is formed with adownwardly-extending lip, 6, at one side of its lower end, the innerside of which lip is provided with a segmental groove, 7, concentricwith the segmental and concave lowerfedge of the lip. A plate, 8, havinga similar segmental lower edge provided with a segmental groove, 9, uponthe inner side, is secured to the side of the lower end of the flat barcorresponding to and registering with the lip upon the other side, andthis plate is provided at the forward edge with a vertical spring caseorcylinder,

10, within which is inclosed a spring, 11, which bears with itslower'end against a rod, 12, having a beveled pawl or catch, 13, at itslower end, and provided with a forwardly-projecting slightly-inclinedfender-bar, 14. A circular disk, 15, having a laterally-extendingflange, 16, at its periphery, projecting to both sides, revolves withthese ilangesn the grooves between the lip and plate, and is heldbetween the same, and this disk is -formed with two radiating recessesorslots, 17, ex-

tending at diametrically-opposite points from the periphery, and withtwo notches, 18, at

points at right angles to the slots.

A block or casting, 19, has an upwardlyprojecting lip, 20, at one side,which lipI is f formed with a segmental groove, 21, Aupon its;l

inner side, for the reception of one of ythe lianges of the disk, andwith a bearing, 22, atVA its yupper-end foronetrunnion, 23, of the disk.

A plate, 24, having a corresponding bearing, f

25, and a segmentalV groove, 26, is secured to the other face of theblock, so that the disk is journaled with its trunnions between the lipand the plate and hasits angesfitting in the grooves.

- A lever, 27, is -fulcrumedat one end'of the supporting-plate of thegrip, passing through or below the platform of the car with its lowerend, and an L-shaped lever, 28, is fulcrumed at its bend between thefianges of the supporting-plate, and has a connecting-rod, 29,

pivoted to the upper end of yits short arm andv to the lower end of thelever.

. A rod, 30, slides in a vertical bearing, 31, y upon the rear edge ofthe iiat bar, and has its.

upper end movably connected to the rear end of the L-shaped lever,andfthe lower lend of this rod projects below the bearings for theslotted disk. l

A rod, 32, slides in a vertical bearing, 33, ,j

the casting, the upper rounded end of the head engaging the notches inthe disk. The lower portion of the casting or block is formed with atransverse recess, 40,atjone side,

within which recess is secured a groovedblock,

41, and a correspondingly-grooved block, 42, is hinged at its lower-edgeat the lower edge nsf Ico

of the recess, and is provided with alaterallyprojecting arm, 48, at thelower edge, against which arm the lower end of the headed bar 38 bears.t

A frame, 44, is secured to the lower end of the block, and has tworollers, 48, journaled horizontally upon the under side, forming wallfenders or rollers for' traveling against the sides of the trench, andtwo vertical and grooved rollers or pulleys, 45, are journaled at theends of the frame and serve as supports for the cable 46, which passesbetween the grooves in the recessed portionV of the casting and in thehinged block. f

The spring-pawl,sliding in the vertical bearing in the plate of theupper flat bar, engages a notch, 47, in the edge of the plate upon thelower casting, and this pawl serves to hold the lower portion of thegrip, which is pivoted by the flanged disk in the lower end of the upperportion, from tilting under the pressure of the draft of the cable,while it may be raised by a crossing cable striking the guide-bar andraising the pawl out of engagement.

It will beseen that when the lever at the platform is tilted forward thelong arm of the L-shaped lever will be tilted down and theverticallysliding rod will be forced down, bringing the lower end ofthis rod to bear against the upper end of the spring-actuated rod in thelower casting, forcing this rod down against the spring. This .rod willforce the vertically-sliding bar down by its oblique arm, and the lowerend of this bar will bear against the arm of the hinged clamping-block,causing the latter to bind against the cable,and to thus grip the samefirmly.

When the grip arrives at a place where another cable crosses the cableengaged by the grip, the said cable will first raise the springpawl bythe guide-bar, whereupon the cable will slip into one of the radiatingslots of the disk, which may revolve as the head of thevertically-sliding bar in the lower casting is forced down and out of'engagement with the `notch in the disk. Y

The disk, revolving, will bring the cable up over the inclined portionsof the block 19 and plate 24 to the other edge of the grip, `and thevertically-sliding rod may now be raised by the hand-lever, causing thehead of the vertically-sliding bar to bear against the periphery of thedisk and to engage the notch in the same when this is broughtv toregister with the head, and the cable may now slip freely out at theother side of the grip, which in this manner has crossed the cablewithout having to be either raised or separated.

Having thus described my invention, I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent of the United States- 1. Ina grip for cable-cars, thecombination of the upper iiat bar secured to the car and having adownwardly extending lip at one side of its lower end formed with aconcave segmental lower edge and with a segmental groove concentric withthe edge, a plate having asimilar edge and groove and secured to theother side ofthe bar, a lower block or casting having the clampingmechanism and formed with an upwardly-extending lip formed with abearing at theupper end and with a segmental groove in its inner face, aplate secured to the other side ofthe casting and formed with asimilarbearing and groove, a circular disk having flanges projecting laterallyfrom the periphery and tting and turning in the grooves, and havingtrunnions journaledin the bearings, and provided withdiametrically-opposite radiating slots extending from the periphery, andwith notches at right angles to the slots, and a catch for engaging thenotches in the disk and for holding the slots horizontally, as and forthe purpose shown and set forth.

2. In a grip for cable-cars, the combination of the clamping portionhaving suitable guiderollers and. fender-rollers at the lower end, andhaving a block formed with a groove in one side of the lower end, ablock hinged at its lower edge at the lower edge of the recess, fittinginto the recess, and having a groove registering with theothergroove,and provided with a laterally-projecting arm at the loweredge, Aa rod sliding in a vertical bearing and having a spring forcingit upward,and having a downwardly-inclined arm, a vertically-sliding barhaving its lower end bearing against the arm of the clamping-block andhaving the arm of the sliding rod engaging its upper end, avertically-sliding rod having its lower end engaging the spring-actuatedrod, an L- shaped lever pivoted under the car and having the upper endof the vertically-sliding rod movably connected to its long arm, and alever pivoted in the platform of the car and having a connecting-rodpivoted to its lower end and to the upper end of the short arm of theL-shaped lever, as and for the purpose shown and setforth.

3. In a grip for cable-cars, the combination of the upper fiat barhaving the lip formed with the segmental groove and the verticalbearing, the plate secured to the face of the bar formed with the grooveand having a spring-pawl sliding in a vertical casing, the lower castingformed with the lip having the bearing and groove, and having thevvertical spring-easing at its rear end and the recess in its lower endformed with the groove, the plate secured to the casting having thebearing, the

groove and the notch for the pawl, the circular disk journaled in thebearings and having the diametrically-opposite slots radiating from theperiphery, and having the notches at right angles to the slots, the'clamping-block hinged at the lower end of the casting ,in the recessand having the groove and the arm, the vertically-sliding bar formedwith the head engaging the notches of the disk and having its lower endbearing against the arm of the clamping-block, the vertically-slidingrod having the spring in the spring-casing forcing it upward and havingthe downwardlyinclined arm engaging a groove in the head of the ver- KOCIIO

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tically-sliding bar, the vertically-sliding rod in the bearing of theupper flat bar bearing with its lower end against the spring-actuatedrod belowt, an Ls ha,ped lever pivoted at its bend under the car andhaving its long arm movably Connected to the verticallysliding rod, ahand-lever pivoted in the platform 0I y the ear', and a connecting-rodpivoted to the lower end of the hand-lever. and to the upper en d of theshort armof the L-shaped lever, as :o

and forpthe purpose shown and set forth:

In `testimony that I claim the foregoing 21s my own I have hereuntoafxed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

' ELWOOD P, HEPPARD, JR. Wtnessesz Y W; HARRISON LIVERMORE, JOSEPH L.FRANKLIN.

